Miranda class
The Miranda-class starship was a type of light cruiser introduced by Starfleet in the late 23rd century through the late 24th century. History Introduced in the latter half of the 23rd century, these ships typically performed patrol and survey assignments. Despite the small size, the class performed satisfactorily. Several series and variants of these ships were produced throughout the 23rd and 24th centuries, with many still serving in the fleet through the mid-2370s. The design filled a number of different mission profiles, including Supply ship (the USS Lantree), to science vessel (the USS Brattain). These vessels served in a large number of engagements during the Dominion War. Used primarily as escorts, many were subsequently lost. (TNG: "Unnatural Selection", "Night Terrors") Many ships of the class saw action during Operation Return, the First and Second Battles of Chin'toka and the Battle of Cardassia. Many ships of the class were stationed near Deep Space 9. Technical Data Physical Arrangement The configuration of the Miranda-class shares a similar design lineage and features with the ''Constitution''-class, implemented in 2270. All Miranda-class starships have a saucer section making up the majority of the vessel. The saucer is similar to that of a Constitution-class, but with a bulkier aft end with shuttlebays and a Warp core. Below the saucer, at the aft edges, are the nacelle pylons connected to the warp nacelles. There are four configurations of the Miranda-class. * The most common was the ''Reliant'' configuration, which had a "roll bar" immediately above the nacelle pylons. The "roll bar" had two phaser emitters on each side that can fire foward and aft, along with 2 forward and 2 rear firing photon torpedo launchers. * Another configuration was the ''Lantree'' configuration, which lacked the "roll bar" and featured only Class 3 defensive armaments. This type of Miranda class was apparently suitable for transport duty. * The ''Saratoga'' configuration, which lacked the "roll bar", and had two large sensor pods installed on the port and starboard sides of the ship. It also had a phaser array mounted on the lower part of the sensor dome; and * The ''Majestic'' configuration, which had the "roll bar", but the warp nacelles were different from the other Miranda configurations, along with some other details. :Some of the ships of this configuration were seen with a red glow where the rear torpedo launchers should be. It has been theorized that the red glow on the ''Majestic rollbar were an extra set of impulse engines, but this has not been confirmed -- that part of the ship could glow red for other reasons, after all. Interior Design Main Bridge The Miranda-class bridge of the 23rd century shared a similar layout to that of the upgraded Constitution class vessels. Located on Deck 1 of the saucer section, the Main Bridge houses the command center of the Miranda-class. The design lineage of the main bridge is a fairly standard floorplan for a Federation starship. Located in the front was the ship's viewscreen, with side-by-side navigator and helm consoles. The captain's chair is directly aft of the aforementioned stations. At the center, rear of the bridge, was the turbolift-entryway. The primary stations, which were located along the rear of the bridge included the tactical station on the port side of the bridge. Along the rear, starboard side of the bridge was the primary science station and communications station. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) :The bridge of the [[USS Reliant|''Reliant]], appearing in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was a redress of the Enterprise bridge, with different colours and a rearrangement of the panels. Because of this, some of the displays mistakenly had diagrams of the Constitution-class ships on them. The bridge of the Miranda-class [[USS Saratoga#USS Saratoga (NCC-1867)|USS Saratoga (NCC-1867)]] in Star Trek IV was similar to the ''Reliant'' bridge.'' Later 24th century Miranda bridges used flat touch interfaces and consoles like those used on other 24th century vessels. Ships Commissioned Named *[[USS Brattain|USS Brattain]] (NCC-21166) *[[USS Lantree|USS Lantree]] (NCC-1837) *[[USS Majestic|USS Majestic]] (NCC-31060) *[[USS Nautilus|USS Nautilus]] (NCC-31910) *[[USS Reliant|USS Reliant]] (NCC-1864) *[[USS Saratoga|USS Saratoga]] (NCC-1867) *[[USS Saratoga|USS Saratoga]] (NCC-31911) *[[USS ShirKahr|USS ShirKahr]] (NCC-31905) *[[USS Sitak|USS Sitak]] *[[USS Tian An Men|USS Tian An Men]] (NCC-21832) Unnamed * [[Unnamed Miranda class starships|Unnamed Miranda-class starships]] Appendices Appearances * TNG: ** "Unnatural Selection" ** "Redemption II" ** "Night Terrors" ** "Unification I" * DS9: ** "Emissary" ** "The Way of the Warrior" ** "By Inferno's Light" ** "Call to Arms" ** "A Time to Stand" ** "Sons and Daughters" ** "Behind the Lines" ** "Favor the Bold" ** "Sacrifice of Angels" ** "You Are Cordially Invited..." ** "The Magnificent Ferengi" ** "The Reckoning" ** "Tears of the Prophets" ** "Afterimage" ** "Treachery, Faith, and the Great River" ** "Strange Bedfellows" ** "The Changing Face of Evil" ** "Tacking Into the Wind" ** "What You Leave Behind" * VOY: "Endgame" *Star Trek films: ** Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan ** Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ** Star Trek Generations ** Star Trek: First Contact Background In episodes of DS9 featuring combat, the Miranda Class is often used as cannon fodder. No fewer then 12 were seen on screen as being either destroyed, or severely damaged, more than any other class of warship used by Starfleet. This included the show's pilot episode (USS Saratoga), and losses incurred in Operation Return (USS Sitak and Majestic). The name "Miranda", may refer to a character from the play "The Tempest" by Earth playwright William Shakespeare. In the play, Miranda is the daughter of the wizard Prospero. She exclaims the famous line once referenced by Captain Jean-Luc Picard "Brave New World...", one of the most appropriate of all Shakespeare quotations for the Federation's message of peaceful exploration of the unknown. In the It's A Wrap! sale and auction, a bronze model of a Miranda-class was sold. This model had four nacelles, with the standard nacelles under the ship along with two others attached to the rollbar above the other nacelles. This configuration was never shown on screen. Name The name Miranda-class was not mentioned in dialogue onscreen, but was devised by the art department of TNG to refer to this design. The name was used on several pieces of onscreen signage referring to these vessels, and is also used by official references such as the Star Trek Encyclopedia. Model The Miranda-class model was designed and built for the production of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The script called for Reliant, an older cruiser of "''Enterprise'''s own class" but of a "different configuration." This ended up being a different class of starship in its own right, the first distinct Federation starship design other than the NCC-1701 to ever appear in a filmed, live-action Star Trek production. The Miranda filming models for that movie were designed by Joe Jennings and Mike Minor and built by Steve Gawley and William George at ILM. The high quality studio model continued to be reused for over fifteen years by the producers of TNG and DS9 to represent a plethora of different starships and classes. Even as the original models were worn out, new CGI Miranda''s were created and used during the later years. The ''Miranda-class model was originally designed "upside-down", with the nacelles above the dish and the "roll-bar" bellow the dish. However, when the initial drawing was sent to Harve Bennett for approval, he viewed the drawings upside down. He liked the design and signed off on it. The FX team debated whether or not to send the sketches back to Bennett (who was in Israel at the time working on another project) with the correct orientation, but they decided that there was insufficient time to do so. Specifications The specifications for the Miranda were not mentioned in dialogue, but are referenced from the show's art department sources by the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual, although the measurements printed there are incorrect in comparison to actual lengths taken from examination of the studio model (the graphic used to represent Miranda in both the Encyclopedia and the DS9 TM is measured poorly, this seems to be the source of the mistake). The length shown here is based the official overall length as given during the production of the movie, that was later followed up by Andrew Probert during TNG Season 1. The remainder of the measurements are based proportionally on the original length, and confirmed based on the measurements of the indentical components used in the Constitution class design. Apocrypha After its 1982 premier in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, fan produced blueprints named this ship type the Avenger Class Heavy Frigate. Further non-canon fan publications created its mid-23rd century predecessor the Surya-class. Ships of the Starfleet suggests that the prototype vessel USS Miranda had the registry NCC-1833. Some sources have described the class as the Reliant-class. Apocryphal Appearances * The Interplay PC Game Starfleet Academy features several Miranda-class vessels including: - USS Oberon (NCC-1806), USS Rutherford (NCC-1835), USS Alexandria (NCC-1842), USS Tempest (NCC-1852), USS Atlantis (NCC-1865), and USS Demeter (NCC-1868). * The Interplay PC Game New Worlds features the Miranda-class vessel, USS Ranger (NCC-1975). * The Activision PC Game The Fallen features the Miranda-class vessel, USS Ulysses (NCC-10767). See also *Soyuz class, which was based on the Miranda class model. Category:Federation starship classes de:Miranda-Klasse es:Clase Miranda nl:Miranda klasse